Angels appear to be changing course in search for manager

As soon as the season ended for the Angels and their fan base, the eyes of everyone working for and cheering for the Halos fell onto Perry Minasian, Ray Montgomery, and Ron Washington. Everyone knew that the job status of the entire trio was in jeopardy, and it all was up to owner Arte Moreno. Minasian survived, while Washington was let go and Montgomery was offered a different role within the organization.

Very quickly after the firings and announcement that Minasian would remain in Anaheim going into the offseason, Albert Pujols began to be brought up as the dream candidate for the Angels' now open managerial position. Fans wanted him and it was no secret that Moreno would want to land the biggest name possible to lead his team into next season -- similar to how he did when Joe Maddon became available in 2019. Less than a month after Maddon's firing, he became the manager of the Angels.

Pujols seemed to be on the same pace. The two sides met last week and by all reporting the meeting went extremely well and Pujols seemed to be on track to become the Angels' manager sooner rather than later. It seemed so sure that many fans and media members theorized they were just waiting to make the announcement until the National League and American League Championship Series had concluded as the league prefers teams to make announcements in-between series rather than during.

On Thursday afternoon, however, Sam Blum of The Athletic reported that the team "plans to interview more candidates for the position, a team source told The Athletic changing course from their initial line of thinking. Pujols remains the favorite for the job, the source said, though owner Arte Moreno has decided he wants a more thorough process."

The interviews are expected to be between Perry Minasian and Torii Hunter and Kurt Suzuki -- both who currently are employed as special assistants to the general manager in Anaheim. Blum writes, "The team also hopes to speak with Texas Rangers special assistant Nick Hundley, Chicago Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, ex-Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, and possibly ex-Twins manager Rocco Baldelli." Blum notes that it is unclear whether any of those interviews have already happened or if there would be mutual interest from any of those names.

This is all in all a good things. While Pujols is 100% deserving of the job and would be an exceptional fit, it does no harm to extend their search (unless of course Pujols is snatched away by another team). The level of concern in Anaheim should be low, but this is definitely something to keep an eye on.